The Adventures of Fortescue and Rosewood
by Elmethea
Summary: An unlikely friendship between a Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Annika and Tina-Marie meet at Hogwarts, where they face ghosts, Lethifolds, Beauxbatons students, Umbridge, and Death Eaters, but as long as the two witches are together, they aren't afraid of anything.
1. Hogwarts

Annika Fortescue was a witch. Or at least, she thought she might be one. She must have had some magic, because she had once fallen out of a four-story window and been perfectly fine.

If she had fallen out of the window at home, there would be no proof whatsoever that she was a witch, because she lived in Diagon Alley, which was a very magical sort of place where odd things happened all the time. But the window in question belonged to Annika's best friend, Juliet, who was not a witch-which is to say, she was a Muggle. A very nice Muggle, though.

Juliet's parents were also Muggles, and had been quite concerned to find their daughter's best friend had toppled out of a window. They'd rushed Annika to hospital and called her father. Much to their surprise, Mr. Fortescue arrived beaming and quite pleased, for the whole incident proved that his daughter really was a witch, and not a Squib.

In spite of this enormous secret between them (for Muggles could not, of course, know anything about the wizarding world), Juliet and Annika had remained good friends. Juliet liked fashion and supplied Annika with a stream of Muggle magazines, which the two girls poured over in order to understand things like makeup and nail polish and boys and how to curl one's hair. Annika especially needed help with these sorts of things, as she had no mother to teach her.

Juliet and Annika had gone to primary school together, and had both learned passable French. But in secondary school, things were going to change. Annika was waiting for her acceptance letter to Hogwarts, a school where witches and wizards learned magic, while Juliet was going to be staying at school in London.

"I think I should apply to a French school, in secret," Juliet told Annika, flipping through a magazine about the personal lives of French celebrities.

"Maybe your Mum and Dad would let you go to France," Annika said, running a comb through her unruly golden curls.

"They'd only say I'm too young to live in a foreign country," Juliet sighed dramatically. "It's not fair that you get to go abroad and I'm stuck in boring old London."

"Scotland isn't really abroad," Annika pointed.

"It's the principle of the thing," Juliet said, which was just the sort of thing Juliet would say.

Annika thought it was a shame Juliet wasn't a witch. They would have been able to go to school together-maybe Beauxbatons, in France. Annika had often daydreamed of this. She didn't much like the thought of going to Hogwarts on her own, without any friends at all.

Annika walked home from Juliet's in a somewhat melancholy mood. She pushed open the door of the Leaky Cauldron. The bartender, Tom, was quite accustomed to seeing Annika and he agreeably took out his wand and tapped the brick walls in the back alley, letting Annika in to Diagon Alley. He said, very pointedly, "I saw a few owls about this morning. _Quite_ a few."

"That's nice," Annika said, a little puzzled. She walked through the archway, trotting down the street between the rows of magical shops. The ice cream shop, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, was closed, but Annika had a little key to let her in. The lights in the parlor were on, and her father, Florean Fortescue himself, was sitting at the table. A broad smile made his already plump cheeks even plumper, but his voice was stern: "You're very late, young lady."

Annika was never on time. Her father shook his finger at her, but it was quite hard to take him seriously when he was smiling fit to burst, "If you had come home earlier, you might have been here to open this." He held up an envelope, the address written in green ink.

Annika caught her breath, her eyes widening. "Is that-?"

"I'm very proud of you," he said. "Of course, I knew ever since you fell out of that window."

She seized the letter and tore it open feverishly, reading with fervent eyes: "Dear Miss Annika Fortescue, we are pleased to inform you-I got in! I am a real witch! _I'm going to Hogwarts_!"

###

It was quite easy to pick up everything she needed for school, and she spent the next few days going into various shops and spending as much time as she wanted lingering over her school supplies. She wished she could use one of Juliet's ballpoint pens, but her father made her buy quills and ink ("You want to be like everyone else," he said).

Madam Malkin, who had known Annika ever since she was born, burst into tears of joy when Annika proudly announced that she needed a Hogwarts uniform. Madam Malkin was practically an aunt to Annika, and had certainly stepped up to the plate on many occasions where a mother's touch was needed.

Annika bought her cauldron and her school books on the same day, but saved Ollivander's for last. She had never met Mr. Ollivander before, as he was a bit of a recluse, but she'd seen him in his shop. When she entered the store, Mr. Ollivander looked up, his wide pale eyes shining in the gloom of the shop. "Ah. Florean's daughter, I presume? I did wonder if you would be coming into my shop at some point." The way he said it gave her a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach, as if she'd swallowed an ice cube. He made it sound like he wasn't expecting her to ever come into the shop, as if he thought all along she might be a Squib.

Mr. Ollivander pulled out a few wands and gave them to Annika to try out. She swished the first one, but nothing happened. Flicked the second, but nothing again. As she worked her way through the wands, she started to wonder what would happen if none of the wands worked. Would Mr. Ollivander write to Hogwarts and tell them they must have made a terrible error?

Ollivander handed Annika the next wand. Quite cross and anxious by now, she seized it, jabbed it towards the lamp, and imagined it smashing against the wall. To her astonishment, the lamp obediently soared through the air and crashed, shattering in a hundred pieces. Annika stared at its fractured remains, then looked at her wand with some fear. It felt warm in her hand, but otherwise innocuous.

Mr. Ollivander smiled at her stunned expression. "Nine inches, exceptionally pliant. Cedar. Phoenix feather core. I had thought you might require a unicorn hair core, as your father does, but . . . the wand chooses the wizard, Miss Fortescue."

When Annika rushed back to the ice cream parlor to show off her new wand, her father had a surprise for her. He opened a whicker hamper and pulled out a kitten, golden with black spots instead of stripes. "I got him from the Magical Menagerie," he told Annika. "His name is Androcles. Not as practical as an owl, perhaps, but you never know when a good cat might come in handy."

###

Platform 9 and 3/4 was swarming with wizarding families all trying to get their children loaded onto the bright red steamer. Annika kept a tight hold of Androcles' hamper, looking around at the chaos with wide eyes. She was feeling rather overwhelmed. Her father patted her shoulder reassuringly and steered her through a crowd of red-haired children.

They managed to find a slightly out of the way corner, where they wouldn't be jostled by owl cages and trunks. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, powder blue box wrapped with a white ribbon. "A going-away gift," he said, eyes twinkling.

"But Daddy, you already got me Androcles," Annika said.

"This is a present to help you in school," he said. He took charge of Androcles' hamper while Annika untied the ribbon and opened the box, revealing a gold pocket watch nestled in white tissue paper. A golden F was inscribed on the back.

"There. That should help you to be punctual to class. It belonged to your great-grandfather, Professor Dexter Fortescue, who was headmaster at Hogwarts. If you ever find yourself in Professor Dumbledore's office-and I sincerely hope you don't, young lady-you might find Grandfather's portrait. He will be quite pleased to see that old watch again, so mind you don't lose it."

"I won't," Annika promised. She hugged her father tightly. When she pulled away, she saw him dabbing his eyes. She looked away quickly, afraid that she, too, might begin to cry.

The watch had come with a golden chain, and Annika hung it around her neck, tucking it out of sight beneath her shirt so that its warm _tick-tick-tick_ lay next to her skin.

"Now, you'd best get on the train before all the good seats go," Mr. Fortescue said, once he'd recovered himself. He escorted her to one of the carriages and lifted up her trunk aboard, then handed Androcles' hamper up to her.

Suddenly, as though conjured out of midair, an older boy appeared at Annika's elbow, seized one handle of the trunk and said, "Need some help?" He was about three years older than her.

Annika ducked her head shyly and nodded. The boy waited while Annika waved goodbye to her father, then began to carry her trunk along the train. He smiled quite kindly at her and said, "First year at Hogwarts, then?"

She nodded again. The boy said, "By the end of the week, you'll be sending an owl home to tell your dad to tell him what a great time you're having. Ah, here are some of your new classmates, I expect." He opened a door to reveal a compartment full of other eleven-year-olds, most of whom looked as anxious as Annika felt. The helpful older boy hoisted Annika's trunk above the seats, then smiled at her and said, "I'll see you around. If you need anything, I'm Cedric Diggory, and you'll find me in Hufflepuff."

He nodded genially to the others, then left. Annika settled on the edge of a seat, still clasping Androcles' hamper to her chest.

One of the boys stood up and held out his hand, looking slightly pompous. "Ernie Macmillan."

"Annika Fortescue," she said, shaking his hand. She was introduced to the other people in the compartment, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Michael Corner, Neville Longbottom, and Hermione Granger. Neville had a toad and Hannah had a puffskein (which weren't included on the list of acceptable pets, but Annika thought it might be rather obnoxious to point this out), but other than that there were no other pets.

Ernie seemed to consider himself the leader of the group, and asked the compartment at large, "Any idea which houses you all want to be in?"

Michael opened his mouth, but Hermione got there first, "Well, I've read all about them in _Hogwarts A History _and I rather think Ravenclaw might be the best."

"We Macmillans have always been in Hufflepuff," Ernie said smugly.

Neville looked a little green. "What if we don't get into a house? Will they send us home?" He had voiced Annika's own fear.

"Everyone gets a house," Susan said. "Hufflepuff takes everyone." The tone of her voice made it quite clear that being in Hufflepuff was just as bad as being sent home. Annika felt her stomach drop a little.

"I'll be in Hufflepuff, then," Neville said, looking glum.

"Anything is better than Slytherin," Ernie said. "They're all dark wizards, you know."

Annika rather wished they would change conversation topics. Luckily, Neville managed to lose his toad before they were even an hour out of the station, so all speculation about the sorting process had to be put on hold while they all searched the compartment thoroughly. Annika and Michael stood on the chairs and peered into the luggage racks, while Hermione and Susan knelt on the floor and peered under the seats. Hannah helped Neville search through his bag, while Ernie stood around looking important and bossing the others.

"Gran'll be so angry if I lose him," Neville moaned.

"Don't be silly," Hermione said, in a tone almost as bossy as Ernie's. "We'll just have to ask every compartment if they've seen a toad. You go left, Neville, and I'll go right." They left, and the others settled down. When the food trolley came by, Annika let Androcles out and he prowled around, sniffing out every corner as if he, too, was looking for the misplaced toad.

Hermione and Neville didn't return until the train was approaching Hogsmede station. All of them struggled into their robes. Annika caught a glimpse of her own pale reflection in the mirror. At least her face was only white, which was a slightly more flattering shade than Neville's green complexion.

When the train pulled up to Hogsmede Station, they left their luggage on board and clambered out. A booming voice said, "Firs' years, this way!"

"Come on," Ernie and Hermione said at the exact same time. The rest of their band followed obediently, though Hannah Abbot gave an audible gasp when they caught sight of who had been calling them. He was huge, and his large quantities of bushy hair made him look alarmingly like a bear. He waved all of them closer and told them they would be approaching the castle on boats.

"Ooh, I wish we weren't," Hannah whispered, starting to blanch. "I can't swim at all. What if we fall out?"

"The squid will probably rescue you," said Susan, which clearly did not make Hannah feel better at all.

They all climbed into the small fleet of boats, which rocked perilously for a moment, then shot forward abruptly, scudding towards the glittering windows of the castle. Annika gripped her new watch very tightly, taking comfort in the rhythmic beat, like a living heart, against her hand.

As they were getting out of the boats, the gigantic man found Neville's toad. Susan, Hannah, and Annika exchanged swift smiles. They were not even at Hogwarts five minutes and they already had an inside joke. But the humor quickly died from their faces as they entered the castle and were greeted by a formidable looking woman, who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and explained the sorting process. Then they doors were flung open, and the first years trooped in under the scrutinizing gaze of the school. Annika, like her peers, gasped at the sight of the magnificent Great Hall, and she couldn't help but sneak looks at her surroundings while the hat sang its song.

Abbott, Hannah went to Hufflepuff. Bones, Susan to Hufflepuff. Corner, Michael to Ravenclaw. Then, all too soon, it was time for Fortescue, Annika.

She climbed the steps nervously, feeling as if the whole school could tell she was about to faint. She looked up and saw Professor Dumbledore watching her, his eyes twinkling just like her dad's did. She felt the watch resting on her skin, and reminded herself that Dexter Fortescue had once sat in that throne-like Headmaster's chair. She turned and perched on the edge of the stool. The brim of the hat had barely dropped below her eyes when its voice rang loudly through the hall: "HUFFLEPUFF."

Immensely relieved that the process was all over, Annika returned the hat to Professor McGonagall and hurried to join Hannah and Susan. Further along the table, Cedric smiled and gave her the thumb's up. They were soon joined by Ernie, but Neville and Hermione went to Gryffindor and Michael wound up in Ravenclaw.

Then Professor McGonagall announced, "Potter, Harry."

The room fell dead silent. Annika, astonished, strained in her seat to catch a glimpse of the famous Boy-Who-Lived. He was skinny and dark-haired, and looked like he was trying to make himself quite small, which explained why she hadn't noticed him in the crowd. Compared to his towering reputation, Harry Potter didn't look like much. But he was sorted into Gryffindor, to tumultuous applause. He looked very relieved. Looking up and down her house's table, Annika privately thought that she, too was quite relieved by the results of her sorting.

* * *

**AN: Hey, readers. Sorry that nothing much happens in this chapter. Just an introduction to Annika, and her fears about fitting in at Hogwarts.**

**In the next chapter: Annika makes a friend.**


	2. The Case of the Missing Cat

Unfortunately, Cedric's cheerful prediction that Annika would love her first week at Hogwarts did not quite come true. Annika was alarmed to find friend groups already forming, and she was not in any of them. Ernie and Hannah were getting on quite well with a boy called Justin Finch-Fletchly, and they encouraged Annika to hang out with them, but she found she didn't have much to contribute to their conversations, and she was rubbish at their favorite game of Exploding Snaps. Susan seemed exceptionally peeved about being in Hufflepuff, and had responded with a rather aggressive campaign to make friends in other houses, so she was usually to be found with a gaggle of Ravenclaws. Annika sometimes thought about going to Cedric for advice, but he was older and handsome and surrounded by his own crowd of friends, so she was intimidated. He'd just been polite when offering to help-why would an older student want anything to do with her?

Classes weren't going as well as she'd hoped, either. Luckily, she managed to be on time to all her lessons, because she had developed a habit of taking out her watch and checking the time every few minutes. When she did this once too often in Transfiguration, however, Professor McGonagall snapped, "The time can't have changed that much in five seconds, Miss Fortescue."

Blushing furiously, Annika did not touch the watch again for the next lesson, and concentrated all her attention on turning her match into a needle. It wasn't going very well. By the end of the lesson, she had succeeded in making it slightly thinner, but Professor McGonagall assigned her homework on practicing the spell.

She wasn't much better at Herbology, even though she wanted very much to impress Professor Sprout, the head of Hufflepuff. History of Magic seemed pretty straightforward, though rather dull. Susan doodled on her parchment while Ernie watched Professor Binns with a slightly glazed look. Annika forced herself to write down every word Professor Binns said. History of Magic was her dad's best subject, and she didn't want to disappoint him.

Potions didn't seem too difficult, as long as you followed directions. Unfortunately, Annika's decent results were largely overlooked, both because Snape was a rather cold professor who was not easily impressed, and because the Hufflepuffs shared the lesson with Ravenclaws.

"It's not fair that we have to do so many lessons with the Ravenclaws-they make us look bad!" Hannah said hotly.

"You're just jealous," Susan said, turning up her nose.

"I am not," she snapped. But she was. They all were. It seemed rather unfair that the other houses all had special qualities and talents. Ravenclaws were smarter than the Hufflepuffs, and they were consequently much better at all their schoolwork. Sometimes Annika wondered if the Sorting Hat had just been kind when he said that Hufflepuffs were "true and unafraid of toil". They had to be unafraid of toil, since they had to work twice as hard as everyone else to get half the attention.

But there was once class that Annika truly excelled in: Charms. Annika just seemed to have a knack for it, though Professor Flitwick insisted it was because she had a good sense of humor. So many of the spells just seemed funny to her, and she liked to envision how they would play out, and this seemed to help with her results. She really and truly wanted to see a feather floating up in the air, so when she said, "Wingardium Leviosa!" the feather obediently drifted off her desk and up into the air.

"Oh, well done, Miss Fortescue," Professor Flitwick squeaked. "On your first try, too! Five points to Hufflepuff!" Several of her classmates threw her grateful looks-Hufflepuff was struggling to gain points for the House Cup, but once it had those points it didn't easily lose them.

Annika's father was writing every day, and she sent back carefully worded replies, but the cheeriness sounded strained, even to her. She did not mention that she was crying herself to sleep nearly every night, or that she was desperately homesick. She was trying to feel at home at Hogwarts, but the cold drafty castle was nothing like the cluttered warmth of Diagon Alley.

A month passed, and Annika felt less and less like spending time with Hannah and Ernie's little clique. She spent her time in the library, or sitting on her dorm bed and stroking Androcles. Sometimes she felt the cat was her only real friend at Hogwarts. She wanted to send a letter to Juliet, but had no idea how to use Muggle mail. She was miserable, and it was beginning to affect her Charms, the one subject she was actually good at. Professor Flitwick noticed and, at the end of one lesson, said, "Class dismissed. Miss Fortescue, come and help me gather up these feathers."

He could have summoned all the feathers with a flick of his wand, but Annika began to pick them up while her classmates filed out of the room. Professor Flitwick said, "Miss Fortescue, are you feeling quite all right?"

"Yes, Professor," she said dully.

He smiled knowingly. "You know, it is perfectly fine to feel homesick. How are your other classes going?"

"Well, they're . . . okay. I'm not doing very well in Transfiguration or Defense Against the Dark Arts. Or Herbology. Or Astronomy."

"Professor Snape says you do well in Potions."

"He did?" This seemed highly unlikely.

"Well, I believe his exact words were "adequate", but from Severus that's a high regard."

It suddenly occurred to Annika that if Professor Flitwick had been concerned enough to ask Professor Snape about Annika's grades, he must have been more worried than his light tone suggested. Perhaps Annika was failing all her classes and didn't realize it. She gloomily remembered Neville's fear of being sent home, and decided that the Hat had just put in Hufflepuff because it felt sorry for her. She wasn't good at magic.

Professor Flitwick prattled on, ". . . an older student could tutor you in Transfiguration. Do you have many friends?"

"I'm . . . not really, sir."

"Have you considered joining a club. Charms Club, for instance."

"Is there a French club?" Annika asked.

"I'm afraid there is not," Professor Flitwick said.

An idea was slowly forming in Annika's head. She said, "Professor, you don't think I could transfer to Beauxbatons, do you? You don't think it will be too late?" She would rather transfer than be expelled, but she didn't tell Professor Flitwick that.

He was taken aback. "If you really wanted to, Miss Fortescue, I could arrange a meeting with Professors Sprout and Dumbledore to discuss it-but I do think you ought to spend another month at Hogwarts before you decide to leave us. Who knows? You might find a very good friend."

###

One of the (very few) perks of being in Hufflepuff was immediate access to the kitchens. Hufflepuff House was located in the basements, along a long hall of cheerful paintings. Around the corner was a stack of barrels through which the common room could be reached, but no one from other houses seemed bothered to come snooping around. The kitchens, however, were another story, and people were always trying to figure out how to get into them.

"There's no trick to it-you just tickle the pear," the Fat Friar told the first-years.

The Hufflepuffs consequently had 24 hour access to food, and stuffed their dormitories with sweets and snacks. Annika, however, craved something which couldn't be smuggled out of the kitchen. She wanted ice cream.

After finishing a particularly difficult Astronomy essay, Annika decided to reward herself with ice cream. It was quite after curfew, but she was feeling glum and sorry for herself. She poked her head out through the barrels, glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then clambered out and hurried to the painting of the fruit. She tickled the pear, which giggled ecstatically and turned into a green doorknob.

The kitchen was silent. The fire was banked for the evening, and the countertops and tables were scrubbed dry. Annika realized no house elves would be awake at this time and, since she didn't know where they kept the ice cream, had almost decided to turn around and go back when a squeaky voice near her knees said, "Can I help you, miss?"

She looked down and saw a house elf, draped in the standard tea-towel toga, bowing to her. His nose looked a little pug-like, as though he'd walked into a glass door. Annika bit her lips and said, "Er, sorry to wake you-"

"Toadsie is not sleeping. Toadsie is awake to mind the fire." He pointed a bony finger at the banked hearth. "Can I be of service, miss?"

"I'd like an ice cream, please," she said gratefully.

Toadsie went away at once and prepared a chocolate confection, with lots of cream and caramel sauce. It was not as good as one of Mr. Fortescue's, but it was nevertheless warmly appreciated. Annika saw beside the fire and ate her dessert. Toadsie knelt across from her.

"It's late," Annika said, rubbing her bleary eyes. "I shouldn't have left that essay so late."

"Is miss upset?" Toadsie asked, looking up at her with concern.

"No, I'm-" But she couldn't help herself. She started to cry, and began to tell the sympathetic house elf about how lonely she was, and how she wasn't as good at magic as she thought, and she didn't think they were going to pass her at the end of the year. Toadsie patted her knee reassuringly (this was the highest he could reach) and plied her with lots of ice cream, the portion of whipped cream growing steadily larger until it overflowed the bowl.

". . . and I w-w-want to send a letter to Juliet, my Muggle friend, but I don't know how to use Muggle post, and she can't know about me being a witch, even if I'm not a very good one!" she finished.

Toadsie waggled his ears, looking delighted. "Toadsie can help, miss! Toadsie can take deliver a letter secretly. Miss will need to buy a stamp, though . . ."

"What's a stamp?" she asked, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"Toadsie will take care of it," he promised her. "I will help miss to talk to her Muggle. I would like to help miss with magic, but house elf magic is different than wizard magic."

"Oh, thank you, Toadsie," Annika hiccuped. She gave him a watery smile. "It will be nice to have a friend at Hogwarts."

He beamed, waggling his ears with evident delight. "It is very late and miss must be getting back to her bed, I is thinking."

She yawned and set the dirty ice cream bowl on the floor. She was so tired that she could barely crawl back through the barrel, walk across the common room, and climb into bed. Androcles had moved to fill the warm hallow she had left, and protested being shifted on top of the patchwork quilt, but Annika was already asleep.

Androcles wasn't there when she woke up. That wasn't too surprising-cats often strayed-but Androcles had never yet shown an inclination to leave the Hufflepuff first-year girl's dormitory, let along the Hufflepuff common room.

When he had failed to make a reappearance by dinner time, however, Annika started to get concerned. She would have asked Hannah Abbot if she'd seen Androcles, but Hannah was still annoyed at the cat for pouncing on her puffskein and giving it a bad fright, so that it would stop shivering and hiding in her sock drawer. So she decided to wait until Susan came back and ask for her help. Susan made a show of glancing in a few corners, but then said, "Oh, its just like Neville's toad all over again!" This drew a laugh from Hannah and Ernie, but Annika no longer found this inside joke particularly funny.

Anxiety over her missing pet led to a plummet in Annika's grades and, to her great chagrin, she lost Hufflepuff two points when she incorrectly answered a question in Potions.

Annika took to prowling the corridors, looking for her cat. She went up as far as the Ravenclaw tower, and even checked the owlery. She discovered a few passages she hadn't known about before, but stayed well away from the restricted third floor. She was coming to the upsetting conclusion that Androcles had either walked into the Forbidden Forest and been eaten by a werewolf, or one of the fifth-years had used him to practice a Vanishing Spell.

She was startled, therefore, when she turned a corner and found Androcles sitting in the middle of a basement corridor. He holding a bird in his jaws, and his meow of greeting was rather muffled around his catch, which fluttered its wings in an attempt to get away.

"Oh, Androcles, put that down, it's foul," she said, darting forwards and scooping him up in her arms. "I've been so worried about you-where _have _you been for the past week?"

She reached into his mouth and pried open his jaws, removing the bird from his grip. But it wasn't a bird-it was a large, ornate key with long wings, one of which was snapped in the cat's teeth. It thrashed in her hand, trying to get away, but Annika stuffed it in her bookbag and buckled it shut. She then set about brushing Androcles off, for he had gathered a large number of cobwebs, wherever he'd been.

"What a _marvelous _cat," a voice said from right behind Annika, making her nearly jump out of her skin. She turned and saw a girl was watching her.

She had a large quantity of thick, dark hair that fell down her back in billowing waves. Her brows were arched, and she had hooded eyes that made her look languid and sleepy. She looked to be older than Annika, but not by much. Maybe she was about twelve. She was wearing a green and silver tie.

"May I?" she asked, stepping forward with her arms already extended, as if it had never occurred to her that she might be told no. She took Androcles into her arms and crooned over him, "I've never seen such a handsome boy before. Golden spotted tabby-you are rare! Such a lovely kitten." She told Annika, "I've got a cat, too, you know. Maximillian." She had a Welsh accent, much slower than Annika's London one.

"That's nice," Annika said, still taken aback by this encounter. Slytherins were supposed to be bullying and mean. They weren't supposed to pick up cats and cuddle them.

Eventually the girl gave Androcles back and said, "Thanks for letting me hold him-he _is _precious." She turned and flounced away. Annika and Androcles stared after her, and Annika muttered, "Who on earth was _that_?"


End file.
